IndyConnect's Marketing Campaign Is Totally Misleading

The propagandists at IndyConnect are having no problem getting the local new media in Central Indiana to shill for their grandiose mass transit plan. Watching their slick new videos promoting a regional income tax to pay for the plan, one would think you'll get it all if you just pay 0.3% more in local income taxes. The reality is that most of the mass transit proposals laid out in the slick new ads won't be built with the initial new taxes that will be imposed and the promised reduction in commute times are a mere fantasy. The additional light rail lines and many of the mass transit bus lines can only become a reality if taxpayers are taxed billions more beyond the initial $1.3 billion investment, which is just a fraction of the comprehensive mass transit system described in the videos. The plan's biggest pitfall is its failure to address the inevitable when fares prove inadequate to cover the operating costs of the system because ridership is simply too low to maintain the new system. Taxpayers will be required to pay even more taxes to support the system because most commuters will choose their automobile over the inconvenience and additional commute times occasioned by utilizing mass transit. Study after study shows that commuting by mass transit increases average commute times by 30 to 40%. People don't choose mass transit because it's faster, particularly in an area like Indianapolis where there simply is a lack of population density and traffic congestion during rush hour periods is not near as bad as it is in other major American cities. These are all inconvenient facts that you won't be told as the propaganda machine picks up to pick your wallets once again.